Berdych, Ljubicic advance; Ferrero exits Rome

Tennis Betting Lines

04/26/2010 - Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tenth-seeded Tomas Berdych and 11th-seeded Ivan Ljubicic were a pair of first-round winners, while former world No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero came up a loser Monday at the $2.97 million Italian Masters, the fourth of nine Masters events on the ATP World Tour this year.

The Czech Berdych, a runner-up at the Masters event in Miami earlier this month, handled Spanish qualifier Marcel Granollers 6-3, 6-3, while the Indian Wells Masters titlist Ljubicic, of Croatia, outlasted France's Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-5, 6-7 (1-7), 6-0 on the red clay at Foro Italico, which boasts a new center court stadium this year.

A 12th-seeded Ferrero, meanwhile, was surprised by Colombian qualifier Santiago Giraldo 6-0, 6-3 on Day 2. The former French Open champion Ferrero is a two-time clay-court champion so far this season and captured this Roman event back in 2001.

In other action involving seeds, No. 14 American John Isner overcame Argentine Horacio Zeballos 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5, No. 16 Argentine Juan Monaco got past Russian Igor Andreev 7-6 (7-4), 7-5, and Frenchman Julien Benneteau upended No. 15 American Sam Querrey 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 7-6 (7-2). The massive-serving 6- foot-9 Isner swatted 20 aces en route to the second round.

The Italian faithful were treated to a trio of home wild card wins on Monday, as Paolo Lorenzi beat Spaniard Albert Montanes 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, Potito Starace stifled Czech Jan Hajek 6-2, 6-2, and Filippo Volandri vaulted past Aussie qualifier Peter Luczak 6-4, 6-3.

Additional wins came for French qualifier Michael Llodra, German Philipp Kohlschreiber, Latvian Ernests Gulbis and Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. Gulbis whipped former Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis 6-2, 6-2 to set-up a second-rounder against world No. 1 superstar Roger Federer.

This week's top seeds are the Australian Open, Wimbledon and French Open champion Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray. Nadal is a four-time Italian Masters champion, including a victory over the 2008 titlist Djokovic in last year's marquee finale here. Federer is a two-time Rome runner-up.

The four-time French Open champion Nadal captured the Monte Carlo Masters tournament in his last outing two weeks ago.

Djokovic will open up here against Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, while Nadal will encounter Kohlschreiber and Murray will meet Italy's Andreas Seppi in the round of 32.

Rome serves as a tune-up for the French Open, which will commence May 23 in Paris.

Sprtsline Tennis Betting News


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MySportsbook.com: NBA Championship Odds

With the playoffs about two months away, the top two teams in the Western Conference are the clear cut leaders to win the NBA Championship. The Dallas Mavericks have the best record in the NBA (44-9) and have been absolutely scorching since the second week of the season.  What makes the Mavs’ record more impressive is the fact that they dropped their first four games of the season.  Currently they have won 17 out of their last 18 and are MySportsbook.com’s favorite (2-1) to win it all.  Right behind the Mavs are the Pacific leading Phoenix Suns (39-13).  Last season, the Suns lost in the Conference Finals to non-other then the Mavericks four games to two.  Of course the Suns were without center Amare Stoudemire who has is averaging 19.9 PPG and 9.5 RPG since coming back from his knee injury.  Unlike the Mavs, the Suns have struggled a bit lately having lost their last three and four out of their last seven.  Of course the main reason for their three straight loses is due to the absence of two time MVP Steve Nash, who is out with a shoulder injury.  Heads-up, the Mavs have beaten the Suns in both of their meetings this season.

In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons (32-19) are the favorites to win it all at 6-1. The addition of Chris Webber seems to have been a good move for the Pistons.  Since coming over from the 76ers, Webber has averaged 13.1 PPG and 7.3 RPG and the Pistons are 11-4.  Even though the defending champion Heat are currently on the playoff making cusp, they are the Eastern Conference team that is getting the most action to win it all (9-1).  The fact that Shaquille O’Neal is back in the starting lineup after missing 39 games probably has something to do with this.  No doubt, Shaq makes a difference when in the lineup as their winning six out of their last seven would indicate.

Just because it is the All-Star break doesn’t mean that you can’t bet on NBA hoops this weekend.  Be sure to log onto MySportsbook.com to bet on who you think will cut down the nets this July. Also, be sure to check out all of the lines and props for All-Star weekend.  With the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry, there are plenty of ways to cash in on the NBA this weekend.

MySportsbook.com’s NBA Championship odds:

Atlanta Hawks 1000-1

Boston Celtics 5000-1

Charlotte Bobcats 5000-1

Chicago Bulls 20-1

Cleveland Cavaliers 20-1

Dallas Mavericks 2-1

Denver Nuggets 25-1

Detroit Pistons 6-1

Golden State Warriors 250-1

Houston Rockets 12-1

Indiana Pacers 60-1

Los Angeles Clippers 45-1

Memphis Grizzlies 5000-1

Miami Heat 9-1

Milwaukee Bucks 1000-1

Minnesota T-Wolves 200-1

New Jersey Nets 50-1

New Orleans Hornets 150-1

New York Knicks 150-1

Orlando Magic 75-1

Philadelphia 76ers 1000-1

Phoenix Suns 5-2

Portland TrailBlazers 1000-1

Sacramento Kings 250-1

San Antonio Spurs 9-1

Seattle Sonics 5000-1

Toronto Raptors 35-1

Utah Jazz 20-1

Washington Wizards 25-1

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FOOTBALL TRASH TALK

NFL Football Trash Talk

Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).

Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.

Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).

Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.

Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.

The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.

What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.

Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.

But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.

In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.